Unfortunate Soul
by Starsmiley
Summary: They hadn't realize what was going on until it was too late to do anything about it.


They didn't realize something was wrong until it was too late.

Therion wasn't sure when he first noticed something was amiss. Perhaps it was when he started to notice she went out every night when she checked to make sure everyone was asleep, coming back hours later with tons of goodies. Maybe it was when she'd have their party stop and she'd go off sprinting somewhere, only to come back with tons of jewelry and some leaves. Maybe it was the strange glint in her eye whenever she looked at people with jewels hanging off every part of their body, bragging about their life of wealth and luxury. Maybe when he noticed that Tressa never seemed to spend any of the leaves she kept on herself.

They had all assumed it was just her being her merchant self. She found other merchants to trade with, or bargain with, bringing back weapons and clothing and items to use for their journey. They were grateful, truly. How could they not be?

One day, did Therion finally find out why his self-preservation instincts went crazy when Tressa was around.

Him, Alfyn, Ophelia and Tressa were walking across rocky terrain to get to the Cave of Azure after having found out that Vanessa was a crazy, selfish bitch. Now they had to find the glowworm moss in order to help heal the village. Honestly, Therion himself would've taken advantage of it to loot as many pockets as he could, but it wasn't his mission or his journey he was on, so he grudgingly followed along with Alfyn after being asked to help.

Tressa had stopped, her ears perking up. "Hey, can you give me a sec, guys?" She had called out to them, before running along a beaten trail to the right of them. Therion sighed, annoyed, taking a seat down on a flat looking rock.

Ophelia went in her small satchel, taking out a few sandwiches. "I figured we'd be out for a while, so I packed some lunch…" She said shyly, handing Therion a turkey sandwich. He was grateful-he didn't eat that much, honestly. He wasn't really used to eating, as Darius had made him go without eating for quite a while at a time in order to preserve the leaves that they had. Therion had thought it was a good idea at the time-save the leaves, and eventually, they'll be so rich that food will never be an issue. Only burning hatred burned within him now at the idea, as it was just one of Darius's ways of manipulating him.

However, he hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon, and combined with the running around Goldshore for hours on end, he was quite hungry, so he nodded in thanks to the cleric, unwrapped the plastic and took a huge bite. Ophelia was one of the better cooks in their party, and he had a feeling Ophelia noticed he didn't eat that much. The sandwich tasted delicious, and had him wanting more. He would wait, however. H'aanit had promised a feast for when they returned, and he wouldn't want to sully his appetite for that.

The three of them finished their lunch, and waited a bit for Tressa to come back. Therion groaned as the half hour mark passed. It could take Tressa a while, but it usually wasn't _this_ long.

"Y'think one of us should go lookin' for her?" Alfyn mused, a worried look on his face.

"I'll go." Therion offered suddenly, standing up. He wasn't sure what made him want to go after Tressa, as he honestly couldn't care less of what happened to her, but it beat sitting around and waiting.

Alfyn looked surprised, but Ophelia just smiled knowingly. "We'll be waiting here." She said, replacing Therion on the flat rock. He grumbled, but headed off in the direction he last saw Tressa go.

He walked for quite a while, wondering where the hell she could've gone. If she had heard something from where they were, surely she and whoever she had heard couldn't be that far? He kicked a rock, and turned around the corner. He stopped in his tracks, horror blooming within him.

Tressa loomed over a dead body with an arrow in their back, blood seeping out of the wound. She grabbed handfuls of leaves and weapons, putting them in her giant backpack, blood marring them. She turned around, and stared at Therion.

Therion didn't say a word. His eyes just swiveled back and forth between the dead body and the very calm Tressa.

After a couple minutes of staring at one another, Tressa blurted out, "It's not what it looks like. I just found him like this, I swear…"

For the fact that Tressa was a murderer, she was a terrible liar.

"Is this how you've been supplying our weapons and clothing?" He hissed. He may be a thief, but he'd never stoop to murder in order to do it.

She stuttered out, "W-Well, kind of…sometimes I buy and trade."

Great, a psychotic merchant. Therion took a step back, ready to go tell the others. She may not have harmed them yet, and seemed to care enough about them to go to such lengths to do all of this, but Therion had his far share of betrayal. He would not run the risk of any of the others being next, or most importantly, himself.

Tressa quickly took out a dagger, throwing it at Therion's knee. His knees buckled, falling to the ground, letting out a grunt of pain. Tressa walked over and coldly pulled the knife out of his knee. He let out another grunt, putting his hands on the wound. She pointed the dagger to his throat.

"You won't say anything to the others," she ordered. Therion rolled his eyes. There's no fucking way he wouldn't tell them after this-sure she was crazy, but there's no way she'd think he wouldn't say anything. She seemed to have sensed his thoughts, as she nicked his throat, droplets of blood now slowly flowing down his throat. His eyes widened. "It's not like they'll take your word anyways, right?" She said, grinning maliciously.

Therion looked at her in disbelief, unsure if she was serious or not. He could understand her acting like this towards him-merchants and thieves were natural enemies, after all-and he had never been kind to her. However, she had just shot an innocent man in cold blood just for some leaves. He didn't know what she was capable of and what she'd do. Besides, she was right-they'd sooner take Tressa's word, a kind, honest merchant, over those of a cold, untrustworthy thief. So, he nodded in agreement.

Satisfied, she removed the knife from her throat. She put her backpack down, taking out a cloth to tie around Therion's knee. He looked at her in confusion. She had just stabbed him, why was she helping him now?

She roughly picked him up, putting his arm over her shoulder and gripped his other shoulder, grabbing the bag with her. For the fact that she seemed to weigh only a hundred pounds, she was ridiculously strong, Therion thought dazedly. She slowly walked back to where the rest were, and suddenly called, "Alfyn! Phili! Help!"

The two healers rushed over, looking at Therion worriedly. Tressa gently settled him down to the rough ground, and Alfyn immediately got to work while Ophelia questioned what had happened and if Tressa was hurt.

"There…there were two scissor crabs," Tressa explained shakily, "and…and they g-got Therion."

Ophelia clucked in sympathy, hugging Tressa's shoulders. Therion noticed the pain go away, and the wound cleared. He looked up at Alfyn with gratitude. Alfyn smiled at him. "It's what I'm here for," he said, helping Therion up.

Alfyn checked Tressa over, and they continued to the Caves of Azure. Tressa looked back at him with a look of warning on her face, gripping her spear tightly. The message couldn't be clearer. Therion nodded, and followed the others with his head down.

* * *

Several hours later, the four of them returned to the inn they were staying at, beaten up but smiling proudly-except Therion, who was still agonizing of what to do about Tressa.

"Ah, thee returneth," H'aanit said, placing a bowl of what looked like clams on the table.

"Yep!" Alfyn said cheerfully. "Saved Goldshore from that witch, and we got quite a good amount of leaves, right Tress?"

"Yep!" Tressa perked up, showing H'aanit the wads of leaves she had stolen.

"Ah, that will be helpful," H'aanit stated, smiling at Tressa's enthusiasm over what she assumed was making a good sale.

Hearing the others, Obleric, Primrose, and Cyrus all came down, although Cyrus was still studying from a book in his hands. Therion still didn't understand what could be so fascinating about an old book, but he guessed that was why Cyrus was the scholar and he was the thief.

Everyone took a seat around the table as H'aanit brought out the last of the food she made, a grape pie. Therion's mouth watered as he looked at all the food, deciding to first grab some crab cakes.

"So, tell us," Primrose said, taking a glass of wine. "What happened?"

Therion let Alfyn and Tressa tell the wild tale of their adventures of Goldshore and Vanessa. He wasn't all that good at story telling anyways, and he was more interested in the apple bread. He took a slice and buttered it up, taking a few bites out of it.

Eventually, they got to the part where they Therion and Tressa had separated off from the party. Suddenly, his appetite vanished, leaving him with a sick feeling in his stomach.

As they continued to regale their attentive audience with their story, Ophelia once again noticed that Therion wasn't eating. "Are you alright, Therion?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," he said coldly. "Just not feeling up to eating. Excuse me." He said the last part slightly louder, interrupting Alfyn's and Tressa's story. He got up from the table, and stalked off his room, which he shared with Cyrus.

He crashed on his bed, bringing his knees up to his chest. He had no idea what to do, to be completely honest. If he told the others, well they wouldn't believe it. They would never take the word of a cold thief over a kind merchant. However, if he didn't say anything, Tressa would continue murdering others to satisfy her greed. One of the travelers might even be next. Therion was quite worried about his own safety. If you dealt in such a horrid hobby, if someone ever found out about it, you'd make sure they were silenced for good, as he learned from Darius. With the hobby that Tressa partook in, Therion might be next on her hitlist.

He continued to brood over the events that transpired when someone walked in the room. Therion jumped, and grabbed his dagger, pointing it at the person who entered. He sighed and put the knife down as he saw who it was. "It's just you," he muttered, resuming his previous position.

Cyrus has put his hands up in a defensive position when Therion brought his knife out, and had put them down as soon as he saw Therion calm down. Strangely enough, his book was absent. It was a very rare occurrence to see the studious professor without a book in hand.

"Are…you doing alright, Therion?" Cyrus asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Therion shrugged the shoulder off, remaining in his curled-up position. "I'm fine," he mumbled. "Just tired after the fight earlier, y'know…"

Cyrus looked at him sympathetically, and patted his shoulder again. "Let me know if you need anything, Therion." He said, giving him a careful look before grabbing a book and settling at the desk in the room to read.

Therion was kind of shocked. It was very rare that the professor put one of the traveler's well being over his books. He knew they could all take care of themselves, but the professor must be worried if he had chosen to check on Therion over reading and taking notes.

For a split second, Therion worried that perhaps the professor had figured out what had happened. He was quite perceptive after all. Logic won over his anxiety however-if the professor knew, he would have said something by now. Cyrus was quite the noble person, which Therion detested at times, but he suddenly wished that Cyrus had figured it out so he could help Therion on what to do.

Suddenly his eyes bolted open, not realizing he had shut them in the first place. A small smile caressed his features. He had a plan. Tressa had to sleep eventually-she was one of the last people to wake up. He'd simply get up beforehand and tell the others, then they can figure out what to do together before Tressa woke up.

He'd ask Cyrus to wake him up then. For as much as the professor stayed up all night to study and consume his books, he didn't seem to sleep that much, for he was one of the first people to wake up in the morning.

"Hey, Cyrus, can you wake me up in the morning when you get up?" Therion asked.

Cyrus looked up from his book, a bit of confusion etched on his face, but he mumbled a "yes, of course" before returning to the large volume he was taking notes from.

Therion sighed, loosening his body and letting his tense muscles relax. He laid down on the mattress, glad to finally have a way to solve this conundrum. He quickly fell sleep, bones and mind tired after the stressful day.

* * *

Therion woke up to the bright sun in his eyes. He blinked a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes. Strangely, Cyrus wasn't hovering over him. He must have woken up on his own, he thought sleepily. He moved his thin frame up, stretching. He opened his eyes, and nearly screamed at the sight that met him.

Blood was splattered on the white walls. The white mattress and blankets were soaked with fresh blood. Cyrus was on his bed, totally sprawled out, lifeless.

Therion shakily got up, slowly walking over to the form. He nearly stumbled over a book, which had drops of blood on the pages it had been opened to. Shaking, Therion put his fingers to Cyrus's neck, trying to find a pulse. He found none. The professor's eyes were closed. Therion didn't really understand what people said about the dead looking like they're peacefully sleeping. Cyrus's body looked anything but peaceful. It looked like he had died in agonizing pain.

Therion took a step back, tripping over the book. He looked up to see the happy smile of Tressa looming over him, a bloody spear in hand.

Without warning, she aimed the tip of the spear towards Therion's face, and brought it down. The world went black.

 _Tressa spotted_ ៛ _500,000 left behind by an unfortunate soul._


End file.
